The common book match comprises a stem of cellulosic material having a combustible head portion. In many cases, the matches will be coated a quarter of an inch to three-eighths of an inch downwardly from the head with a material designed to sustain burning of the match after the head has been consumed. In the progress of burning a match, there is not direct oxidation of solid material, but the burn progresses through the procedure of gas generation and burning of the gas. If the gas generation is inhibited by deterring the transfer of heat, most substances will cease to burn. The structure of a flame in general involves interiorly non-burning gases which ignite only at the exterior portions of the flame, where a mixture with air produces a flammable gas mixture. If one should strike a book match and hold it upright in the absence of air movement, the match will essentially self-extinguish after it has burned down to the aforementioned coating.
Careless use of matches and also use of matches by children are responsible for many fires. In many cases, a match may be discarded while still burning and may land on an object which it will ignite. Additionally, it has been known that small children will burn matches to determine how long they can be held, and then they suddenly drop the match while it is burning to avoid burning fingers.
Proposals have been made to coat matches at least partially with a fire retarding material along the stem so that only part of the match surface will sustain a flame, and then only when the flammable head of the match is held downwardly, with respect to the main portion of the match stem. Such a concept is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,838,989. In the manufacture of matches, a wide strip of cellulosic material is coated with the sustaining composition a small distance from the head end. The strip is then dried and slit into the individual match stems which are then dipped into a composition which may consist of a mixture of glue, potassium chlorate, sulphur, an abrasive filler, and perhaps a dye, and permitted to dry. The assemblies may then be separated by transverse cuts and conventionally assembled and stapled to the match book cover carrying a dried strip of striking material such as a misture of red phosphorous, abrasive and glue.
The present invention may be embodied in the conventional method of manufacture of book matches as described above.